Week in Review

52 Miles
6 Runs
1 Day Off
90 Min of Deep Stretch
2 Weight Lifting Sessions
14 Mile Long Run 1/ 10 min @ 5:55 pace

This week was definitely a step in the right direction.  It was the first week of being back to "the real world" as a married woman.  I returned to 9 hour days at the office and began my lifting regimen again.  I'm feeling strong and getting fit.  With each week that I run over 50 miles, I'm building my confidence back to where it needs to be.  While I wanted to do a light workout of 12x45 seconds, that was thrown out the window after my Tuesday run, when the top of my foot was sore.  To be safe, I took Wednesday off and decided to do my workout on Thursday instead.  Fortunately, my foot felt fine on Thursday, but unfortunately a torrential downpour on the Colville loop prevented any workout from happening.  Maneuvering around the booty loop in the daylight is tough enough with all the traffic lights, let alone with deep puddles and dark streets.  Despite the rain, a handful of CRC folks still made their way to the Dowd back porch to enjoy a run in the rain.

On Saturday, I put on my big girl pants and decided to finally try to run sub-6:00 pace.  This is something that hasn't happened since November, or over 10 weeks.  I ran 10 miles with Danielle and Anna before picking it up to 5:55 pace for less than 10 minutes and then rounding back to add on some miles with Danielle.  Aerobically, I feel a bit out of shape, but I was really happy with the effort.  I want to include a sustained hard effort in my long runs for most of the spring to build my strength and endurance. 

I'm happy that I've committed to lifting twice a week and attending a deep stretch yoga class.  My mom got me a 10-pack of classes for my birthday at MOGA and it's been great not only for my muscles, but also for my relationship with Garrett because we go together.   I look forward to continuing this upward trend!

Additionally, I've set my race schedule for 2013 as follows:

02/09/13 - Cupid's Cup 5k (Rustbuster)
03/02/13 - Rumba on the Lumber 5k
03/17/13 - Tobacco Road Half (Tentative)
03/23/13 - Kinston 8000m
04/13/13 - Race Fest 10k
04/20/13 - Tar Heel 10 Miler (Tentative)
04/27/13 - Providence Heart & Sole 5 Miler
05/11/13 - Capital City Classic 10k
06/01/13 - Running of the Bulls 8k
06/22/13 - USA Half Champs (Tentative)
07/20/13 - Beat the Heat 5k

Since I'm a married woman now and have to consider Garrett when I make race decisions, expensive races may be out of the picture.  Garrett plans to attend Physical Therapy school in 2014 and I plan on pursing my MBA in the future, so we need to save money.  The USA Half Champs are tentative, based on my fitness level and cost of trip.  I had a lot of fun (outside of the race) last year with Meagan, so I'd like to go for that, but if it's too expensive and I don't feel fit, then the cost will outweigh the benefit.  Decisions will be made in March!